Question of the Week: What’s Your Favorite Piece of Automaker Lore? You Should Know
Welcome to the BaT Question of the Week! For those unfamiliar, here are the rules: we ask an automotive-themed question, and the author of our favorite answer from the comments is awarded a $25 credit to the BaT Gear Store.
This week’s question is: What’s your favorite piece of automaker lore?
The more interesting parts of automotive industry history contain countless obscure tidbits, stories of legendary rivalries, wild urban legends, and even a particular tale involving some illicit contraband. This week’s question focuses on these stories of yore, apocryphal or otherwise. Here are two examples to kick off the discussion:
It is said that tractor tycoon Ferruccio Lamborghini set out to build the 350 GT out of spite after Enzo Ferrari dismissed his criticisms and told him to stick to making tractors. The insult ironically kicked off a longstanding rivalry, allegedly.
Another story involves GM styling chief Bill Mitchell ordering his staff to paint the “Mako Shark” Corvette concept car to match a a taxidermy shark trophy mounted on the wall of his office. After failing several times, the designers made the decision to steal the shark and paint it to match the car. Did it really happen? We don’t know, but it’s a great story.
We’ll save the rest of ’em for the comment thread and pass it off to you:
What’s your favorite piece of automaker lore?
Tell us your suggestions in the comments, and give a thumbs-up to any nominations that grab your attention. We’ll announce the winner on Monday.
